Freezing feet
by fishbird
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke is on their way home from a far away mission when the freezing weather forces them to take shelter. Two friends, becoming....
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one Chapter one

The air was freezing and the wind tearing. Naruto and Sasuke were on their way home from a mission in a far away country. They had been on their way home for several days now when the snowstorm surprised them. The weather had been acting strange for over a month now and both Naruto and Sasuke was to say the least quite tired of it.

"I'm freezing, Sasuke" Naruto whined. The snow had turned into freezing water at their feet which was now cooling down their entire bodies.

"Stop whining Naruto, it won't get us anywhere" Sasuke sneered back. Sasuke was sick and tired of the cold weather and Narutos nagging as well. He wished he was back at his own house, next to his warming fireplace. Loosing himself in that thought he failed to hear Naruto yelling at him.

"SASUKE! IDIOT TEME! LISTEN to me teme! I can see a cave from here. I think the storm will take a turn for the worse so we should be taking cover when we can. For example in that CAVE I mentioned earlier. HEY! Are you listening?"

Now Sasuke was listening. One especially cold wind blew across his ears and gave him a brain freeze. He was more then willing to take cover in that cave.

"Well let's move then moron" he said and started to make his way to the cave. Naruto giddily followed.

The cave was a little smaller then expected, but big enough to fit them and a few other things. The storm picked up pace and the snow fell faster. Both Naruto and Sasuke were happy that they were safe and sound in the cave now.

"We should take off our wet clothes and cover up with whatever we can find in our backpacks. If we don't, we won't gain any heat." Sasuke began to take of his shoes and the wet pants. Naruto was at a loss of what to do. Something in the situation felt so intimate, like he was caught in a romantic novel. Naruto felt the heat rise on his cheeks and he looked away. Believe it or not, but Naruto was really a prude.

"What are you doing? You have to get out of those wet clothes. We will camp here for the night so you better hurry up and change."

Sasuke had already taken off all his wet clothes and was now only in his boxers and a t-shirt. Hurriedly he crept into his sleeping bag. Naruto was still unchanged. Sasuke was just about to point that out when..

"Turn around"

"What?"

"Turn around"

"You have got to be kidding me, right?"

"Just turn around. It can't really be that hard?"

"No"

"What do you mean no?"

"No, like in no, I won't turn around"

"What?! You pervert!"

"I'm no pervert idiot, and if I was I hardly doubt that I would get off at seeing cold wet feet being relieved from socks. Get a hold of yourself Naruto. Hurry up and change." Sasuke turned away from Naruto and tried to make himself as comfortable as possible.

"Well I'm all done now, thank you"

"hn"

"Don't you 'hn' me! You answer me….. Wait! Are you angry because that you didn't get to see my sexy, sexy feet?"

"Idiot! I was just trying to sleep, but if you haven't noticed, there's hardly any peace here because SOMEONE is talking all the time."

"Gosh, you could just have said that you was about to sleep. You know I wouldn't have bothered you. Well good night then"

"Good night"

Turned away from each other, they fought to stay quiet and relax, but both the fight and the cold left them fidgeting. Deciding they would do something about it they spoke at the same time.

"I'm sorry" "Dobe I .."

"Heh! I guess we both want peace before we sleep."

"Yeah, I guess so. Good night Naruto"

"Good night Sasuke"

They lay in a comfortable silence for a while enjoying the unusual peace between them. Then the storm took that turn for the worse that Naruto had been expecting. Snow whirled into the cave and left them freezing even more.

"Dobe, lets use the snow to make a wind shelter in the cave opening."

They hurriedly made the snow shelter and dived into their bags.

"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! I'm freezing my butt off, only it's the feet and the hands that are the worst."

"You think I don't freeze as much as you then?" Sasuke sneered back.

"I don't care about your ass right now since I'm having my hands full of my own! …..That didn't come out right…. Just don't even think about it."

"I think we have to exchange body heat."

Naruto looked at Sasuke with non understanding eyes.

"I think we have to exchange body heat." Sasuke repeated. "Get over here"

"Why do I have to come over to you? You should be the one coming over to me."

"Stop acting like a baby. I'm just trying to make us survive the night. Don't you see? When the sun go down it will be even colder."

Sasuke made his way to Naruto. He unzipped both the sleeping bags and zipped them together.

"What are you DOING!"

"I'm zipping the bags together so we can share body heat."

"But this way we'll be sleeping together"

"I would rather be sleeping with you then loose my limbs. I trust you to feel the same. Now get into the bag. You are letting in cold air."

Naruto got into the bag and looked at Sasuke.

"What now?"

"Now we hug."

"We do WHAT!"

"CUT IT OUT! I don't want this ether, but we have to. Now hug me!"

Naruto hugged Sasuke a little awkwardly. Sasuke did the same. Both were as rigid as trees.

"See, it's not that bad."

"Your feet are freezing."

"Well so are yours. Now STOP complaining. Let us sleep."

"Sure. Good night"

"Night"

As the boys lay together, trying to ignore the other the evening turned into night and the boys froze even more. No more did they care about the awkwardness of the situation. The heat from the other body turned into a sweet addiction, as it should when you are freezing. Soon the boys were not so shy anymore and curled together shielding each other from the cold. Soon they were entwined with each other and moved their hands over the others' body trying to warm up the cold skin on the back. They fell asleep like that, holding each other close.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two Chapter two

Next morning they woke in each others arms. Only, they did not alert the other that they were awake. None of them were used to cuddle and this opportunity did not arise very often. Therefore they wanted to saviour this moment for as long as they could. When they could not pretend any more they made their awaking official.

"Aaaaah! Good morning Sasuke. Slept well?"

"Good enough. Yourself?"

"Good enough."

….

A thick silence fell over the boys. No one knew what to say so they said nothing. What do one say when waking up in your best friends arms and feeling like you don't want to let go? That's right… You say nothing.

Once their stuff was packed their journey home started. In silence. To their amazement the cave had not been long away from the Konoha gates. As they reached the gates they looked at each other.

"This is between you and me only, right?" Sasuke said.

"Hai." Naruto looked down at his feet, only to gather strength to look Sasuke directly in the eyes as he spoke. "I'm not ashamed of this."

Sasukes heart made a jump. He did not think it was awful. Best say something.

"Neither am I."

Narutos head that had begun to drop in wait for Sasukes answer snatched up. Sasuke continued to explain.

"I just don't want people to know about it… Well you know how people can be."

Naruto knew that all to well, but Sasuke didn't know that. He just nodded and started walking. Sasuke followed.

A few days had passed since their cuddling mission. The Hokage had been pleased with the success of the mission so she gave them both three days rest. They had parted as soon as they left the Hokage building. This was Narutos second day of mission work and all he could think about was Sasuke. Luckily his mission wasn't a mentally testing one and he spent his mind thinking about what he felt that night and why. Why was he thinking of him now. No, that was something he didn't even want to begin to think about.

Sasuke was out on a field. The enemies were skilled and outnumbered them. Kakashi was behind him along with Guy. An odd group, put together only because of a large number of ninjas called in sick.

These last days, his mind had been tormenting him, only thinking about Naruto. And now he ended up in this situation. It demanded his attention, but his mind was not cooperating. He was distracted in a place he really should be focusing.

Kakashi let his group know of his plan and they divided the opponents due to capability. Sasuke got two.

Sasuke lured them to another ground, better suited for him and the fight began. After several minutes everybody was exhausted. Sasuke decided to end it all. He used a full body chidori to take his opponents out and retrieve the stolen scrolls. He smiled at his victory and started to head back when…

Black. Everything was black. He could hear Kakashi scream his name somewhere, but soon all noise faded into nothing.

'Voices. I can hear voices.'

Sasuke was slowly coming to life in an all too bright room. He could hear the voices clearly now.

"I don't know why! Normally he could take on another pair of those without breaking a sweat. All I know is that somehow he reached his chakra-limit."

Kakashi, Sasuke thought with an imaginary smile.

"Why Sasuke!"

This voice he recognized even more. It was Narutos. It was the person he had been thinking about all the time. He fought to open his eyes and when the world had cleared a bit he directed them at Naruto.

"Naruto" he said. The room became quiet. "Alone"

Sasuke waited for the people to get out of the room so he could speak with the person most important to him.

As soon as the door was closed behind them Naruto whispered with desperation.

"Don't Sasuke. Don't you dare leave me"

"Hush" Sasuke said. "you heard him. It's just exhaustion. I'll be fine."

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Guess who

"Before you go ranting on me as you usually do" Sasuke sighed. Then sighed again. Then he looked nervous. Then he started fidgeting.

"Well what!" Naruto looked more then a little annoyed.

"What do you… Well….. How.. Just what happened in that cave? I mean, what happened for you?"

"For me? What do you mean? Same thing as for you. I didn't do anything you didn't." Naruto blurted out.

"What I meant is did you _feel_ any different" Sasuke wheezed out, angry that he had to expose himself this much.

"Well I…." A blush started to spread on Narutos cheeks. "You know, it was…. Well…" Suddenly Naruto realized. "Hey! Why don't YOU tell ME if YOU felt any different. You are the one making a mess of yourself anyway"

Sasuke was just about to answer when Tsunade came into the room.

"Sorry to barge in here, but I'm in a hurry. Naruto, you and Sasuke are great friends right?"

"Hai obaasan!"

"Good. Then you will be taking care of Sasuke in his house for a few days since we need this space for some seriously sick people."

"Hey! Sasuke is seriously sick. You can't just throw him out of here because there will be coming others."

"It's diarrhea Naruto. Think about it." Then she disappeared from the room.

"Ewwww" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke thought the same thing, but didn't like to do silly stuff in front of almost strangers.

Naruto was sent away to pack his stuff while Sasuke waited for the ride home.

'Naruto blushed.' Sasuke thought to himself. 'Could it be that he also…'

"Hihi" Sasuke giggled in the empty room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three Chapter three

Naruto hurried home to get his stuff when he came across Sakura. Sakura stopped him to ask if he had heard about Sasukes hospital visit.

"Yeah! I just came from there. I have been assigned to take care of him while he rests up a bit. I don't think he'll be walking for a couple of days. He can barely keep himself awake."

"O no! My poor Sasuke-kun!" She lost herself in worry thinking about her longtime crush, until she discovered what kind of opportunity that just had been revealed to her.

"But I could take care of him. I have medical training and I am better suited for it. Why wasn't I chosen?"

"I don't really know, but you could talk to Tsunade about it. I guess that she wants to see you anyway." For the first time, Naruto was angry at Sakura for real. He really did like her, but when it came to Sasuke she only cared for her own feelings. She did not even consider that Sasuke might not want her attention. No, maybe he wanted Narutos attention instead. He made an imaginary evil smile when he thought about what waited the pink-haired girl at the hospital. A second later he was beating himself up mentally for being so unfair to Sakura. She could not help that she was close to obsessed about the boy.

"Are you listening to me at all?" Sakura's words interrupted his train of thoughts and he realised he had been spacing out for some time now.

"I'm sorry; I'm really in a hurry. See you later!" And off he went, leaving Sakura alone on the street.

Finally home, he grabbed his necessary belongings and left, heading towards Sasukes house.

Meanwhile; in Sasukes house.

'What was I doing? I wanted Naruto to have felt the same thing that night. Do I really want this? Do I really want Naruto?'

Something was heard from the front door. 'Is it Naruto'

Soft steps made their towards his bedroom. He concluded that it was Naruto and that he was trying not to wake him up, so he pretended to sleep.

'Since the cold mission I have been longing to feel his body against mine. Am I freezing? No, the only logical reason has to be that I want to be more than friends with him. But how much more? Am I in love with him? I do feel my…'

The door creaked open and a small figure stepped in. He could not see who in the dim light, but one thing was sure. It was not Naruto.

The figure slowly made it's way towards him and Sasuke begun to panic.

'What is happening? Where is Naruto? I can't defend myself in this state. I can hardly move. What if it's an assassin? Are these my last..'

"Sasuke."

'What?! Sakura. What is she doing here?' Sasuke thought.

"I know that you probably are fast asleep by now, but I just wanted to get some things off my chest."

"I care about you. I always have. Sure, it started with a stupid crush, but time has developed my feelings to something more. I want to be the one to help you heal your wounds…… But you never let me. All you ever cared for is revenge. You never even gave anyone your attention let alone for Naruto. You need to let someone in. Someone like me. I want your best. I want you to be happy. I'm ready to make sacrifices, as long as it means your happiness."

Sakura gulped. "Hmm.. I'm glad that you are sleeping. You don't look as angry now."

"Well I got go get going. I hope that you will be doing better soon. Bye."

Sakura turned to look at the seemingly asleep Sasuke one last time before she left and closed the door.

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. So that was how she felt. This was surely complicating things. He didn't necessarily like Sakura, but he didn't dislike her either. He was sure that he didn't want to make her very sad. 'She wants me to be happy. Would she be happy if I let Naruto in? Would I be happier with Naruto in my life?'

The answer came to him almost immediately, along with a banging on his front door. Sasuke felt a rush of excitement, instantly realizing that this could be no other than Naruto. 'Yes, I guess I would be happy if I let him in. Sakura, be happy for me.'


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the long wait. I have been really busy doing my schoolwork among other things. I hope that you haven't given up on my story yet and that the end will please you. Take care!**

Chapter four

Naruto closed the door with a bang. All out of breath he made his way to the kitchen. After unpacking the one week supply of ramen that almost made him late, he made his way upstairs. Deciding it would be nice of him to check up on Sasuke before unpacking the rest off his stuff he knocked on his bedroom door.

"Naruto, is that you?"

"Hai! Can I come in?"

"Yeah!"

Naruto entered the room and immediately spotted Sasuke on the bed, trying to look big and bad but mostly he looked so out of it, that he just looked small, vulnerable and pathetic.

"Eeeeh.. How are you feeling?"

"Fine" Sasuke huffed out.

"Do you need anything or can I go unpack my stuff now?" Naruto said a little uncertainly. "Where do you want me to stay anyway?"

Sasuke felt a bolt of stress blow through him. He knew by now he wanted Naruto close somehow, but was not ready to express it.

"I want a glass of water and some hot soup." Sasuke said almost without thinking; instinctively trying to buy some time to think before making any decisions.

"Okay, I'll be right back" Naruto said as he went back out the door.

'Finally alone' Sasuke thought. 'If I'm trying to bind him close to me, then how do I do it best?'

Meanwhile, Naruto was cocking instant chicken soup in the kitchen and also pondering about how to proceed with his newly discovered feelings. If he tried something with Sasuke, there was a good chance that their already pretty fragile relation would be broken into bits and his closest friend would be lost. But then again it seemed like Sasuke had experienced something special at their freezing mission too. Deciding that he would let Sasukes actions decide how to proceed Naruto walked up the stairs to Sasukes bedroom again while carrying the soup and water.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure"

Naruto walked to the nightstand and put the meal down. Not really knowing what to do besides just stand he started to move towards the door when a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"Stay" Sasuke said. "Please?"

Naruto sat down on the bed beside Sasuke and handed him the bowl of soup.

"Here" He said a little awkwardly.

"Thanks."

Sasuke put the bowl in his lap and slowly started eating. The room was filled with a very noticeable silence and the only sounds one could hear, was the scraping of the spoon against the fine china.

"So, have you heard anything from Sakura yet? She told me she was about to see you." Naruto rambled to break the silence.

"Hn" slurp. "Thanks for the food, dobe." Sasuke said silently as he scooted down into the bed again.

"Would it kill you to be nice for once?"

"Well I did say thanks, didn't I?"

"Teme" Naruto said as he grabbed the bowl. After all, this was the Uchiha household and not his own apartment.

The hand stopped him a second time.

"Stay" Sasuke said. "I'm freezing."

As he said that he looked Naruto directly in the eyes, making him gasp from the intensity and chock.

"Eeeh… Sure." Silence again. "Do you want me to warm you up a bit?"

This time Naruto mesmerised the Uchiha with his gaze.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

Sasuke crawled deeper under the covers to indicate that he wanted Naruto to come there pronto, but Naruto just stood there, watching.

"Why are you just standing there, aren't you going to warm me up like you said?" Sasuke said, blushing slightly.

"Well, were do you want me? I mean, if you're just a little frozen I could lay on top of the covers giving you some slow heat or if you are really frozen I could go under the covers for you. That way-…"

"I'm freezing very much thank you, but you aren't taking those dirty clothes into my bed. Take them off and come here." Sasuke said sternly, making sure that Naruto knew exactly what he was indicating.

Naruto dressed down to boxers and got under the covers. All the time his heart was pounding badly and his head felt like it was about to explode. This must mean that Sasuke like him too, or at least want something more then just friendship. As he crawled up next to him he noticed that Sasuke was not cold at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

"Hold me"

Naruto did as he was told and Sasuke let out a deep sigh.

"You know you're not really cold Sasuke" Naruto said teasingly.

Sasuke did not answer but did turn face to face with him. The next second Naruto could feel the soft touch of Sasukes lips on his.

'This is really happening!' was what went trough both of their minds as both of them refused to let go as if afraid of scaring the other away.

They lay there holding each other for a long time, the only thing moving were between their lips.

After the kiss followed silence. Not the uncomfortable silence from earlier, but rather the one you would wrap around you and saviour every moment of, because it makes you feel like warm fuzziness is taking over your body. Feeling the pure happiness of the moment, Sasuke couldn't help but be reminded of how unusual the feeling is to him and therefore tensing up.

Naruto notices this and dread fills him. This was not what he had wanted. Now Sasuke surely regretted his earlier actions and their friendship, the one that meant the world to him, would become weird and awkward.

"So Teme. What do you think of this?" Naruto said with a somewhat harsh voice. At that Sasuke resurfaced quickly from his thoughts, afraid of the harsh tone. One look was all it took for him to calm down though, for Narutos eyes only spoke of longing.

"I think I love you. I can't get you out of my mind. Every time you are not around it's like I'm dead inside. And when you ARE around, I feel like I'm made of butterflies. It's not a crush. I want you."

Naruto was stunned for several moments, just processing what he heard, or think he heard, maybe he was dreaming. That would make more sense, since-

"Aouchi, you pinched me!"

Sasuke looked at him half irritably half smiling, knowing what thoughts probably want through Narutos mind. A few seconds passed and Naruto was back in this realm again, this time realizing that this might not be a really good dream after all.

"I think I love you too, teme"

After Naruto uttered those words both of them felt an insane joy come over them, making them giggle and hug, laughing and kissing. It felt like nothing could hold them down no more. After some time Sasuke had to rest. His chakra was far from fully restored and his stamina was therefore not very good. Deciding it would be nice with a nap Naruto made sure to go up and brush his teeth too before falling asleap alongside Sasuke.

Tip, tap, tip ,tap, tip…

'What is that sound?' Sasuke groaned silently. 'It is the shower leaking again.'

He made his way out of the bed softly to make sure that he did not wake Naruto up. It was still night out and the stars shone brightly as if to celebrate the happening of his love life. Carefully he opened the window and took a deep breath of air just enjoying the view. The night air were crisp and he could easily make out his breath by the white clouds that came out of his mouth. Somehow he felt like he was for once communicating with his family and begun to tell them all about Naruto, the boy who made him live again.

Tip, tap, tip….

'The shower. I forgot all about it.' He quickly made his way to the bathroom and made sure that the showerhead was not leaking any more, then turned back to the bedroom.

As he snuggled up to Naruto he accidentally woke him up making a shiver go up his spine.

"Oy Teme, your feet are freezing"

Sasuke didn't mind the insult, he just smiled and snuggled closer to Naruto.

The End


End file.
